Prime_BASS Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1303781' date='Jul 14 2011, 05:10 PM']I thought I was awesome at 20 too .....I suppose it also depends on what you think of as 'the best'. On a more general note,a big part of practicing is not the pure number of hours but the material that you study. Playing along to your favourite Chili Peppers for a couple of hours is great fun but it's not practicing. The idea is to practice something that you have never played or can't already do....that is how you improve. An hour studying an 8 bar exercise out of 'Chord Studies' will see a bigger improvement than 3 hours jamming to 'Californication' for the 6th time. Don't get me wrong,playing to your favourite albums is fun and important but after a short while it stops becoming practice and you need to look elsewhere for improvement.[/quote] Very true. I try and "practice" at least an hour a day. It doesn't just involve playing however. Scale runs, improv over a metronome, reading up on theory, executing theory in jams to drum machine, watching YouTube vids(for techniques I want to improve on). I also try and listen for basslines that excite me to then learn. For example Duran Duran - Rio was on radio, spent my hour listening to the song, and playing the lines, I now know the verse and chorus, just need to remember changes then move onto playing the bridge. In a week I'll be able to play it without really thinking. A lot of my buddies think I'm good but I know I'm not as good if I'd taken music at school or was more bothered with theory, but STICK IT TO THE MAN!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1303781' date='Jul 14 2011, 05:10 PM']I thought I was awesome at 20 too .....I suppose it also depends on what you think of as 'the best'.[/quote] I'm not 20 yet and i'm already past the stage of thinking i'm awesome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4 Strings Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 [quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1304004' date='Jul 14 2011, 09:20 PM']I'm not 20 yet and i'm already past the stage of thinking i'm awesome...[/quote] I'm 50 and I think I'm getting better. Or not as poor as I was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'm still 6.25 inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 The thing with something like music is that the end product is completely subjective. It's not like sports where it's all easily quantifiable - how fast can you run/swim/slide on a tea tray down and ice track? Sure there's technical ability. But technical ability on its own is of minimal value unless you are using it to play something worthwhile and that's the subjective part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyslimfast Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 (edited) [quote name='silddx' post='1304212' date='Jul 14 2011, 11:46 PM']I'm still 6.25 inches.[/quote] Is that the size of your hat in the recent vid, Sir? Edited July 15, 2011 by fatboyslimfast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='silddx' post='1304212' date='Jul 14 2011, 11:46 PM']I'm still 6.25 inches.[/quote] Can you blow your own horn though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='oldslapper' post='1304561' date='Jul 15 2011, 11:31 AM']Can you blow your own horn though?[/quote] No mate. I am 47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 But were you born with 6.25? Or was it due to the 10000 rule? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='silddx' post='1304854' date='Jul 15 2011, 04:31 PM']No mate. I am 47 [/quote] Know what you mean, get out of breath too quickly at our age Nige.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xilddx Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='oldslapper' post='1304922' date='Jul 15 2011, 05:41 PM']Know what you mean, get out of breath too quickly at our age Nige.... [/quote] Me back's knack, never mind diminished lung capacity while clappin dem cheeks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I too am 47. I am definitely getting better but that comes from playing with other musicians rather than practice per se. As for the talent question, technically I am pretty poor and I have next to no theory knowledge (not for want of trying, I just don't get it). However I like to think I can play basic basslines in a very dependable manner, am always punctual and am proactive in our band. I think these are as useful as pure talent. Not blowing my own horn either - back problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1303781' date='Jul 14 2011, 05:10 PM']On a more general note,a big part of practicing is not the pure number of hours but the material that you study. Playing along to your favourite Chili Peppers for a couple of hours is great fun but it's not practicing. The idea is to practice something that you have never played or can't already do....that is how you improve. An hour studying an 8 bar exercise out of 'Chord Studies' will see a bigger improvement than 3 hours jamming to 'Californication' for the 6th time. Don't get me wrong,playing to your favourite albums is fun and important but after a short while it stops becoming practice and you need to look elsewhere for improvement.[/quote] +loads That principle applies to everything in life really. Personal development in pretty much anything is best achieved by focusing on things you are [u]not[/u] good at. Just concentrating on stuff you can already do is reinforcement rather than the route to improvement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zero9 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 When I was 9 I wanted to be 10, now that I'm 45 I want to be 10. I suppose, if I put on 3 or 4 stone and grew a moustache I'd look more like J3ff B3rl1n. Would that make me more talented? More opinionated maybe... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 [quote name='flyfisher' post='1303647' date='Jul 14 2011, 03:41 PM']A bit like that old Arnold Palmer quote (I think) about golf being a game of luck - and the more he practiced the luckier he got.[/quote] +1 It was about somebody calling him a lucky golfer, & that was his reply. I think it's about having a need/desire to do it, then having the circumstances to make that possible. Sometimes talent will not be used for a variety of reasons (personal, social, circumstansial etc). Talent itself is only one component of a complex set of interconnected things (jeesus, hark at eeeeee!!!) Cheers, Norm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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